Month: October 2014

Who Will Remember Mallam Yau? – (Lost his life on duty, for YelwaBauchi Business Unit of Jos Electrical Distribution Company)

A day after the Sallah celebration, the heavy rain that fell in Bauchi fell some poles between Zaranda Hotel and the Tambari Estate on Jos Road. That led to the disruption of power supply to the Wuntin Dada, State Poly and Tambari axis of Bauchi.

The Government declared holiday was still on, when one Mallam Yau of Zamfara village (residing in Wuntin Dada) went out on the fateful day to look for daily bread, he eats as he works, (daily paid or helper/Casual/Temporary staff) in PHCN, the Yelwa Business District of Bauchi.

He was knocked to death, by an electric pole they were replacing near Kyaure, after The Zaranda Hotel on the road to Jos. Painful you may say, but we learnt it is a regular occurrence and the casualties go unannounced as ‘casualties of work’. I in wondering asked for his name from some PHCN staff and then the shock of he is a number terrified me because they had to inquire to get his name and do not even know the full name. I latter learnt his fathers name is Ahmadu and they reside in zamfara village after miri on the way to jos.

I ask, if this person, Mallam Yau, was a Manager or Senior person in NEPA/PHCN or is the son of a Governor, Minister, President or the Chairman / MD of the company, will it go silently unnoticed like that?

A mentor and brother of mine, a Professor of African Leadership by all respect, Ayo Aderinwale of Africa Leadership Forum, got me to respect the silent heroes; who work our waters, rails and roads all night to ensure food reaches the markets in the North and South. The silent heroes who died at work and war fronts in numbers and not names, but keep the peace we so much work to maintain. The heroes who work our high and low tension wires to ensure we have the power we need to keep our houses lit. They earn peanuts and are engaged in the most dangerous high energy demanding chain of the production circle. They need a mention and a way to improve their lives especially at a time like this, when a father, husband and son is gone and the family looking for the peanuts per day are left at the mercy of the environment, that still does not see reason to cater for it’s less privilege. Who will remember Mallam Ya’u?

NEPA changed to the Power Holding Company recently and later diversified and sold some of the aspects of company to private individuals. The Bauchi, Gombe, Plateau and Benue Axis of the division we are told was bought by a company called, The Jos Electrical Distribution Company, in which Alh Yayale (the former Head of Service) is a stakeholder in the company.

This is a call for Jos Electrical Distribution Company, where he was working on the fateful day, the Government and people of Bauchi State, where he was contributing at his small but needful way to ensure light/power is restored to some areas of Bauchi (when some youths had rather go robbing others), to look into the family of the deceased and at least show some concern, if not appreciation for one of theirs that died in the line of duty.

It is a call for the Ministry of Labour to look into ways of Insuring such workers to ensure the family has some little token as compensation. For the Ministry to also look at ways to reduce the issue of casual workers as much as possible.

We at AbujaNig commiserate with the family and pray God to grant them strength to bear the great loss. We remember him as a point of contact for the many others who have been placed as numbers and not people and pray our Government will move steps ahead and placed them as Stars on the Plaques of the places they worked and lost their lives for their children to grow and tell theirs, that their Fathers/Mothers death is remembered and not in vain. Sleep well Mallam Ya’u.